Botswana Focus

Botswana Focus

Visiting the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe and Victoria Falls over the course of 9 days, this comprehensive safari itinerary takes in northern Botswana’s most spectacular wilderness areas. On what is one of our best-value private safaris, you will stay in mid to high-range safari camps and lodges, and can expect excellent service and fabulous game-viewing throughout.

Outline Itinerary

Moremi CrossingMoremi Crossing is located on the isle of Ntswi, at the southernmost corner of Chief’s Island. As you fly over the Delta you can see the intricate twisting and turning of the waterways and the ever-changing colours where dry land meets Delta. The channels around Moremi Crossing offer far-reaching vistas of the Moremi floodplain, grasslands and marginal woodlands interspersed with Mokolwane palm islands.

Moremi Crossing provides luxury accommodation in 16 vintage en-suite safari tents, each with its own private wooden deck and magical views over the Boro River and Chief’s Island. The safari tents are large and airy with en-suite bathrooms.

Moremi Crossing’s main public area consists of a large open-plan deck with a spectacular view across the river to Chief’s Island, the largest island in the Delta. The half-moon shaped guest area is open-air and built on multiple levels so as to give you a feeling of space. The dining room, bar and lounge are covered by a large thatched roof that hugs the tree line and accentuates its most beautiful assets.

As a water-based lodge, access to Moremi Crossing is by either mokoro or boat. The camp offers a mix of game-viewing activities, including half or full day mokoro trips, guided walks, sunset motorboat cruises and island camping. There’s an emphasis on water activities, giving you a chance to experience the Okavango Delta and its wildlife at a slower pace and from a closer perspective.

Game-viewing in the heart of the Delta is, as you might expect, fantastic. On Chief’s Island and in the surrounding region you can hope to encounter lion, leopard, wild dog, elephant, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, red lechwe, and much more.

Day 3:
Sango Safari Camp, Khwai Community Area

After an early morning activity followed by breakfast at camp, you will be transferred from Moremi Crossing to Khwai by light aircraft. From Khwai, it is a short road transfer to Sango Safari Camp, your home for the next two nights.

Sango Safari CampSango Safari Camp nestles amid the treeline on the banks of the Khwai River. Situated on the outskirts of the village of Khwai and on the border of Moremi Game Reserve, the camp offers its guests the perfect base from which to explore the wildlife and culture of this unique habitat.

This intimate safari camp is named after the Sango Family, among the original inhabitants of the Khwai area, and now part-owners of the camp. Guests will have the chance to learn first-hand about the unique lifestyle and experiences that come from living and growing up in one of the wildest regions of Botswana.

Accommodating 12 guests in 6 en-suite Meru tents, Sango Safari Camp is designed in the style of the classic tented safari camps of days gone by. With its open-air bucket showers, hand crafted furnishings and classic styling Sango Safari Camp aims to rekindle the atmosphere of the luxury mobile safari camp, successfully blending the rustic with the luxurious.

With the Khwai River forming a natural border between the world-famous Moremi Game Reserve and the Khwai Concession, animals can travel freely through this vast, unfenced wilderness.

Situated on the river overlooking Moremi and with access to both these magnificent wildlife areas, Sango Safari Camp offers fabulous game-viewing opportunities. The camp’s location allows for a range of activities including open-vehicle game drives (both in the Moremi and in the Khwai concession area), guided bush walks, night drives and mokoro trips. With permanent water, seasonal floodplains, savannah grasslands and riverine forests, this incredibly rich habitat supports an abundance of mammals and birds matched by few other areas in northern Botswana.

Day 5:
Kubu Lodge, Kasane

After the morning game activity, transfer by road to Khwai Airstrip for the internal flight to Kasane Airport, where you will be met on arrival and transferred to Kubu Lodge for two nights.

Kubu LodgeKubu is a small, privately-owned lodge situated amid 30 hectares of riverine forest on the banks of the Chobe River, placing it right on the doorstep of the world-famous Chobe National Park and only an hour from the magnificent Victoria Falls.

Shaded beneath giant ebony and fig trees, in private gardens just outside the centre of Kasane, Kubu Lodge is a wonderfully peaceful retreat. It offers cosy accommodation in eleven thatched, en-suite chalets, raised on stilts and positioned overlooking the river.

The main lodge facilities include a bar, restaurant and a secluded swimming pool. The lodge co-ordinates game viewing excursions, including game drives into Chobe National Park and boat cruises on the Chobe River.

Chobe is Botswana’s original big game safari park. Famous for its wild bush terrain, its big cats and, most of all, its staggering elephant herds, the park offers a traditional game-viewing experience to rival even the best parks of East Africa. You’ll have the chance to explore the park’s northernmost regions on guided game drives from Kubu Lodge over the course of the next two days.

Day 7:
A’Zambezi River Lodge, Victoria Falls

After breakfast at Kubu, transfer by road across the Zimbabwe border and to Victoria Falls (approx. 1½ hours). On arrival, check into A‘Zambezi River Lodge for two nights.

A’Zambezi River LodgeA’Zambezi River Lodge nestles on the banks of the Zambezi River, within the periphery of the Zambezi National Park and just 4km upstream from Victoria Falls. The only lodge situated directly on the Zambezi River, it offers easy access to both the Falls and the nearby National Park.

Though a fairly substantial lodge (88 rooms), A’Zambezi’s stone-and-thatch structures sit easily with the surrounding environment, while the unique curved design of the main building allows for great views across the garden lawns to the Zambezi River. The mood is relaxed, making it a lovely spot to unwind between activities in the local region (a shuttle bus runs between the lodge and town).

Facilities include a swimming pool, children’s play area, bar and the main dining area – “Amulonga” – a buffet and à la carte restaurant where you can enjoy open-air dining, garden breakfasts and riverside lunches.

Activities available locally include boat cruises on the Zambezi River, day safaris in Zambezi National Park, golf, crocodile and snake farm excursions (300m away) and a host of adrenalin activities, including white water rafting, bungee jumping and micro-light flights. Activities can be booked at reception.

The largest sheet of falling water on earth, the Victoria Falls are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The sheer mass of water cascading down the 100m drop, across nearly 2km, makes a thunderous roar and creates a magnificent spectacle that can be seen for miles – hence the local name 'mosi oa tunya', meaning 'the smoke that thunders'.

Water flow over the falls varies throughout the year. The river's annual flood season is February to May when the spray can reach a height of over 400m; this is spectacular from above but it makes it very difficult to see the falls at ground level as it is under a heavy shower/mist. Water levels start dropping in August and are at their lowest between October and December, when much of the rock face becomes dry. At times of low water, the falls are best viewed from the Zimbabwe side or from Livingstone Island.